Steel Kaleidoscopes

Rockport

There's nothing like a New England summer. A slice of Rockport goes a long way.

Photo courtesy of Blue Moon Knitting.

 

John Lennon

Want proof that John Lennon's spirit is still strong?

Lennon's original lyrics for "All You Need is Love," handwritten on a piece of paper, sold for more than $1 million at a London auction. Even his sunglasses scored big -- fetching $140,000.

And in the end ... all you need is cash.

Larry Laoretti

Back in the summer of '93, I covered a lot of golf as a sports writer for the MetroWest Daily News (then the Middlesex News). One of the perks is to participate in "media day" tournaments.

With the seniors in town at Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord, I joined my foursome and hoped I could at least strike the ball with consistency. I was partnered with Kevin Mannix, the Patriots beat writer for the Boston Herald.

Senior Larry Laoretti (above, right) joined our foursome on the ninth hole. I had been playing badly and was, obviously, nervous. Sure enough, I lined up a simple 9-iron with a perfect lie, 90 yards from the green.

Whiff.

Head games. Self-inflicted pressure. The enemies of a loose, springy golf swing.

Hey, he still posed for the picture with me.

Damn, I'm honest on my blog.

The Plantaris Muscle

I'd like to think I'm a formidable athlete.

That's why, during outdoor gatherings, I seek out someone to toss around the Frisbee, whip around a lacrosse ball or, if there's group consensus, play some volleyball.

So at our recent summer outing I'm playing Frisbee when all of a sudden what feels like a bee sting zaps the back of my calf. Then, seconds later, it feels more like a knife wound. But, displaying my typical machismo, I continue to play with a noticeable limp.

After two days, I decide to see a doctor. Did I pull a muscle? Tear a muscle? Why is my left calf twice the size of my right calf?

"Plantaris muscle," says the doc . "Typical tennis injury. But you got it playing Frisbee, eh? Do you have Frisbee insurance?"

I'm in no mood for jokes, and the doc gets to the point.

"Good news and bad news," he says. "Good news is you don't have a blood clot. Bad news is that once a plantaris tendon snaps, the one in your other leg could go at any time."

It kind of sucks getting old, I think to myself.

I feel 18, but my body likes to remind me that I'm 45.

So it's ice and heat, some pain killers at night, elevating the leg when I can, and try to take it easy. The doc says these kind of injuries take time.

If I were a monkey, I would be in worse shape. Turns out the plantaris tendon is the muscle that allows monkeys the flexibility to swing from tree to tree.

Lucky me.

Quote of the Day

"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway."

- Mary Kay Ash

Focus on the Present

Here's why baseball is America's greatest sport:

Cubs ace Mark Prior looks like an overmatched Little league pitcher in the first inning last night, with the rival Cardinals' Abraham Nunez, Jim Edmonds and John Mabry taking him deep. Three solo home runs in the bottom of the first!

But somehow, Prior settles down and doesn't give up anything else over his six innings of work. And bottom line: The Cubs come back to win, 8-4, in 10 innings.

Last night Prior resembled the poster child for shaking off mistakes, focusing on the present and getting the job done.

Every pitch counts.  Every minute counts. Every day counts.

Give it your best.

Chloe

The midsummer heat doesn't bother Chloe. Not with the central air and her first doll.

Top 100 Guitar Solos

Guitar World recently surveyed its readers in an effort to compile the Top 100 Guitar Solos of all time.

It's a good list but, like most lists, opens itself up for debate.

Here are the Top 10:

1. Stairway to Heaven - Jimmy Page

2. Eruption - Eddie Van Halen

3. Free Bird - Allen Collins and Gary Rossington

4. Comfortably Numb - David Gilmour

5. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

6. November Rain - Slash

7. One - Kirk Hammett

8. Hotel California - Don Felder and Joe Walsh

9. Crazy Train - Randy Rhoads

10. Crossroads - Eric Clapton

Later choices are thankfully here, but should be much higher. These include:

16. Heartbreaker - Jimmy Page

19. Highway Star - Ritchie Blackmore

31. Stranglehold - Ted Nugent

60. Zoot Allures - Frank Zappa

71. Maggot Brain - Eddie Hazel

79. Mean Street - Eddie Van Halen

94. Working man - Alex Lifeson

... And these are completely missing:

Heartbreaker - Mark Farner

Can't You Hear Me Knocking - Keith Richards

She - Ace Frehley

Oh well. A list is a list. And a debate is healthy.

Scott Speed

Sometimes, the name fits perfectly.

Take Scott Speed, for instance.

Speed, 22, is an upstart American race car driver with plans to enter the prestigious Formula One circuit next year. If he makes it, Speed will be the first U.S. driver to compete in Formula One since Michael Andretti ran a limited schedule in 1993.

Last year Speed, who currently races in Grand Prix 2, became the first American to win two European titles in one season -- capturing the German Formula Renault championship and the Eurocup crown, two junior formula series.

In all, he won 13 races last year-- more than any driver in Europe who was racing F/1-style cars and was not named Michael Schumacher.

Gotta love the name.

Bar Man

Meet Bar Man.

Bar Man has a blog where he is chronicling his journey to 1,000 bars in one year.

He's hoping to make the Beach Volleybask on Saturday.

He drinks a lot of Tanqueray and Tonic.

When Bar Man was in the Beach Cafe in Manhattan a woman asked him if he was looking at her. When Bar Man said he was not, she told him that she just had her hair done.

This is just one of the stories Bar Man tells on his journey of 1,000 bars.

Bar Man needs to have a Michelob on tap at the Idle Hour.